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Israel must grapple with uncomfortable truths

UN inquiry is necessary because Israeli government and civil society have become less and less tolerant of legitimate dissent about war in Gaza.

If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not a racist, then why does he treat the lives of Israeli children as more sacred than those of Palestinian children? asks Yair Auron. (Sebastian Scheiner / AP)

By Yair Auron

Wed., Aug. 27, 2014

The attacks against William Schabas and the UN commission of inquiry he has been appointed to head began almost as soon as the commission was announced. These are unfair. Schabas is a world-renowned expert in international criminal law and is well-qualified to head this commission. As for the commission itself, it is in the real interest of Israel because it will expose uncomfortable truths that Israel and the world must grapple with.

I am an Israeli scholar who has dedicated my life to Jewish identity, Holocaust and genocide studies and human rights in Israel. For me, after more than 40 years of studying and teaching, the legacy of the Holocaust and genocide is the equality and sacredness of the life of every human being, be they Tutsis, Armenians, Jews or Palestinians.

It is unfortunately true that the levels of anti-Israeli attitudes and anti-Semitism are higher now than they were before the war in Gaza. But it is also very sad that the Israeli government and civil society have become less and less tolerant of legitimate dissent about the war. The racist behaviour of the Israeli government toward its Arab minority and the freedom to kill so many innocent civilians in Gaza, including children, risks destroying the democratic basis of Israel. Rejecting automatically any inquiry into Israeli actions, or any criticism, prevents the possibility of any dialogue.

Of course Hamas uses acts of terror and commits war crimes, but when Israeli leaders publicly call them “animals,” they do so to justify our moral failure. No one has the right to kill innocent civilians, and we, unfortunately, have done it again and again during this terrible war. We are strong, very strong, but we argue and behave as if we are victims, the victim.

We Israelis have lost this human value, which was one of the basics of Jewish morality. The universal and inspiring phrase from the Mishna Sanhedrin (Jewish religious and moral texts) has been changed from “Every person who saves a single soul, it shall be written about him as if he has saved the entire world,” into a more particularistic one: “Whoever saves a single soul of the people of Israel, it is as if he has saved the entire world.”

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There is an “entire world” between the two versions. But our Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, abides by the particularistic version. After discovering the corpses of the three Israeli adolescents, he said that revenge on a child was not even invented by Satan. Yes, Netanyahu is right. But if Netanyahu is not a racist, why doesn’t he say the same regarding the four Palestinian children who were killed when they were playing on the beach in Gaza? He ought to repeat this phrase hundreds of times in memory of all the Palestinian children who were killed by our army. Not accepting the equality of the lives of both Palestinians and Israelis is to betray the legacy of the Holocaust and the memory of its victims.

If somebody had told me long ago that this is what would become of our society, I would have told him he was an anti-Semite. But we have become a sick society, as has Palestinian society. For us, it is because of the authentic, continuing impact of the Holocaust, combined with the terrible manipulation of it by our government for years, and the influence of the occupation.

The democratic world has to help Israelis and Palestinians get out of this syndrome. Everyone, including most people in Israel, knows that the only solution is to form two national states. A two-state solution is in the interest of Israel’s national security. Peace is a critical need, and not our enemy.

Canada is uniquely positioned to help because of the confidence your prime minister has generated in Israel, and because Canadians are generally respected worldwide for their impartiality. Please do not be bystanders and do not support unconditionally every single act of Israel.

Yair Auron is a professor of Political Science at the Open University of Israel, specializing in Holocaust, Genocide Studies and modern Jewish history. He is currently on sabbatical in Toronto.

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